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I did it. This past Sunday, after 7 months of training, I ran my first Marathon (26.2 miles).

It’s a race and there is a winner, but the greater majority of the 6,200 people who ran this Marathon with me had no hopes of actually winning it… but rather they were in it to finish or do their personal best.

It’s a lot like article writing and marketing because it’s a “process” and the true benefits go to those who take a longer term viewpoint rather than only wanting and expecting an immediate return.

If I had to compare completing a marathon to article writing, I’d say that running it is as difficult as writing your first 262 articles… but the lessons you discover along the way about yourself, your niche, your life, your business and the improvement in your writing skills are something that no one can ever take from you. You become stronger for having made the investment of time & energy.

I’m aware that many EzineArticles members have gone on long “article writing marathons” of their own… some who do it individually and others that band together to share the adventure.

The picture on the left is of me at mile 25. I wanted to quit no less than 20 times and they never said it would be easy… But they did say it would be worth it! :-)

The marathon started out at 41 degrees F’ (6 degrees C’) with 12-15 mph winds. I was able to run pretty strong for the first 18.5 miles but became frustrated with various knee pains that forced me to run/walk and then by mile 25, a slow forced walk is all I could do.

Now that I’ve experienced a marathon, I’ve learned that I have a body made for sprinting and I intend to leverage that by training for half-marathons (13.1 miles) with a focus on improving my speed rather than to just complete it.

The biggest physical bonus I received from training for the marathon is a 11 lb drop in weight and 2-3 inches less around the waist… not to mention my 10k race pace is now 12 minutes faster than ever before.

As much as I was frustrated at my 5 hour marathon time, I did enjoy talking during the entire race to the other marathoners… at least those who weren’t out of breath. :)

I learned that running 9-16 miles per week during training was NOT ENOUGH to prepare my body for the physical foundation needed to run a full marathon without stopping.

If I had to do it again and someone told me that you have to run 25-35 miles per week at the peak of training to prepare for it, I might have passed on it all together as that’s a serious time commitment for a guy (me) who is not a runner by nature.

I never gave up during training. In fact, I liked the training more than the event… and I knew that I had already won (on my terms) before the race even started.

I used to be a marathon runner, along time ago when I was much younger and before I had kids, and I know how much time and energy it takes. Kudos to you for doing it with a family and a business. I’m sure finding the time to train required a lot of discipline.

The cool thing is, is that now you are part of a very elite club. You’ve done something most people will never do. And that’s got to make you feel pretty special.

Plus, now that you’ve done it, it’s pretty easy to see that you can do ANYTHING if you set your mind to it!

Congrats again!

Debbie

BTW – I live in San Diego and while the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon didn’t exist when I ran my marathons, I’ve heard great things about it. Plus, the weather is great here for running! :-)

I started running 3 years ago, dropping 70 lbs, and ended up training for the NY Marathon in Nov 2007. Since I never ran in my life, finishing the marathon was one of my greastest accomplishments. I truly believe that like Debbie stated above, ANYTHING can be accomplished if you put your mind to it. It was the greatest experience and would recommend it to anyone.

Congratulations! It is an accomplishment and a unique high. I also discovered the bragging rights alone are worth the ordeal.
My own marathon mission started at age 50 when I panicked and needed to prove I really wasn’t that old. Six weeks later I finished my first one – apparently I’m built for endurance, but not for speed. I finished my ninth at age 60 and decided that was enough. I never did get any faster and the long grind was becoming less appealing. Not to mention the 3 – 4 hours on the road every weekend.
Enjoy the next one!